Lots of us are buying more fresh foods, grown locally. Farmers markets are everywhere, often held twice a week per town. During the summer, it's fun to visit farmer stands and U-pick fields for berries. Some hardy souls have even driven past the city limits and gotten to know their farmers; signing up for regular fruit and vegetable boxes. And a few really in-the-know foodies find local ranches that have an ordering system for fresh chicken, rabbits, quails or pork.

So why do some people hang back on livestock bidding at local fairs?

I checked in with Solano County 4H and FFA families and buyers to get the lowdown on acquiring a freezer full of steaks or bacon. We chatted about how it works, how the young people feel about it, and who benefits from consuming hand-fed, carefully monitored and USDA tested beef, pork, lamb and chicken.

For Gary and Abbie Glass of Vacaville, supporting 4H kids at the fair is a result of seeing their own kids go through the program.

"These are really a good solid group of kids, with a good sense of responsibility and they help each other right up to the minute they step into the ring. Then they are competitors," said Glass, who is President of Parducci/Mendocino Wine Co.

In Solano County many 4H and FFA students apply to McDougal Livestock Loan Fund to assist with the initial purchase of an animal or animals. It is a process not unlike applying for a home loan, said Glass.

"They have to do what you or I have to do to secure a loan. They have to have a balance sheet, draw up a plan of what they'll spend and what they'll make at auction. Then they have to pay the loan back," said Glass.

For John Eldridge, 18, who just graduated from Dixon High School, starting 4H at age 5 and joining FFA in his freshman year, let him focus on his passion for agriculture.

"My mom started me off and I really love the process. I love the showmanship and I love to compete. It's like a sport to me," he said.

Eldridge plans to save this summer's auction money for college, where he hopes to study law with a focus on helping farmers and ranchers.

"In the past three years, this has all become so relevant to me. And I feel that raising a food product isn't something I do for me. I do it for the consumer," he said.

When you talk to those actively involved with 4H and FFA they share a common vocabulary to discuss how livestock journeys from farm to fork. Steers, lambs, pigs and anything that might end up on a dinner plate is "product." The product is "processed," sometimes by the person who raised it (in the case of small animals like chicken, rabbits or quails), or the raiser can take it to a processor for the consumer. Larger animals are taken by truck to a processing facility, each marked in a way that allows it to be tracked from fairgrounds back to the individual consumer. Butchers chosen by the fairgrounds further process the animals. The whole process, which includes aging and smoking, can take two- to three-weeks.

How does one know how to bid? Fairs publish an auction booklet that lists the going wholesale rate. Of course, in fair bidding the idea is to encourage the young person. Generally, bids are two- to three-times higher than the published per pound rate. The difference between the published rate and the final bid is considered a donation to 4H or FFA (depending on which program the young person is active with) and most bidders look at it as a tax deduction.

They also look at it as freezers full of meat that often lasts all year. While you might think you paid a high rate for hamburger, buying steak and ribs at the same price is a bargain.

For Joe Gates, who is an auctioneer and butcher, it is rewarding work that helps young people acquire life skills.

With younger exhibitors, there can sometimes be wobbly chins and wet eyes.

"At the very first 4H meeting, the Market Class, they show a video showing this is what is going to happen. It's a great educational tool and the kids go in knowing exactly what will happen," said Gates.

Gates daughter raised animals and is part of a three-generation tearjerker fair story. She saw the Market Day video. She hung out at the family butcher shop, wrapping meat.

Which was all well and good until she bottle-fed a steer named Bob who had nearly as much personality as a dog and big brown eyes to match.

"When the truck pulls up, I can see that my daughter is having a little bit of a hard time, so I tell her, that's all right, I'll walk Bob over. But I find myself getting emotional because Bob was more than a steer. Of course, I don't want the kids to see their 4H leader crying," said Gates.

So, Gates scans the crowd and spots his dad and asks him to walk the steer the rest of the way. Sure, his dad says. But by the time the elder Gates led Bob to the truck, he's crying too.

"I still think about it. It's not auction day that's tough. It's when the cattle truck pulls up," Gates said.

Stories like Gates are numerous and they illustrate the sacrifice and effort that young people make to learn how to produce healthy, nutritious food.

Ag families are used to bidding and stocking their freezers. They are able to host barbecues and camp-outs all year long. And if there's some left over when it's time for the next auction, they often donate to local non-profits. Gary Glass, for example, has donated beef to Opportunity House in Vacaville, which helps women get back on their feet.

Still, for the newbie, it might be hard to bid. It is possible to bid on half animals with a partner bidding on the other half. You can stop in the barns and learn a lot about the bidding process from the young people tending to their livestock and from their group leaders, who are always on hand.